Preparing your house for sale: it’s all in the details
When it comes to selling your home, appearances count. And in a tough market, with interest rates on-the-rise and clearance rates slowing, it’s important for owners to do everything they can to make their property stand out from the crowd. For agents, it’s no longer a matter of simply listing the property online and waiting for the offers to roll-in. A good agent will offer their clients advice on preparing their property for sale, along with a range of marketing tools to ensure their listing is prominently featured.
If you’re thinking of listing your Mudgee property for sale, here’s a few tips from our team:
- Get your property physically ready to list: give your house the best chance to impress potential buyers, by ensuring it is in tip-top shape. If it’s currently leased or occupied, work closely with your property manager to ensure the house is neat for open houses and inspections. Encourage your tenants to clean before any scheduled showings and keep the gardens and lawns tidy. If your property is empty, put on those gloves & do a deep clean! This includes details like light switches, curtains, blinds and skirting boards. Clean the windows and the oven, patch any holes or dents in the wall and mow the lawn. Consider giving the house a repaint, replacing the letter box and updating your house number – remember, street appeal matters!
- Consider staging: according to Home Advisor, a home that has been staged spends between 33% and 50% less time on the market, making it easier to sell in a competitive market. Bring in a professional stager and get them to choose furniture, designed to highlight the positive aspects of your home. A carefully chosen couch or table can go a long way in making a room look bigger, disguising a tricky floor plan or making a home feel modern and fresh. Stick to neutral colours and depersonalise as much as possible. Potential buyers want to visualise themselves in your house – with their own belongings – so make it easy for them by decluttering and styling.
- Do your homework: before you consider listing your property, do some research into the market conditions. Become well-versed on interest rates, auction clearance rates, time-on-market, prices in your area and rental yields in your area and across the state. Have a look at the current demand for short-term and long-term rentals and local tourism figures in the area. If you’re trying to sell your home in a buyer’s market, it’s more important than ever to work with an experienced agent. They will be able to ensure your pricing is competitive and create a high-impact marketing strategy that reaches buyers.
- Marketing, marketing, marketing: a high-impact property marketing strategy across digital, social and print platforms is critical to selling your home. Appearances matter, particularly in a tougher market, so consider bringing in the professionals to photograph and video your home, prior to launching it onto the market. A quality property marketing strategy should also include:
- A solid listing, written by a professional copywriter, who can create an engaging, accurate ad for your property. Listings should focus on the property’s features and potential lifestyle benefits, and should also include imagery and a floor plan.
- Listings on high-traffic websites like realestate.com.au and domain.com.au, along with the real estate agency’s own web platform.
- “For Sale” signage placed prominently outside your property
- Organic and paid social media, including photos and video of your property. Paid advertising spend should target local buyers, as well as out-of-area.
- A 360 video: this gives buyers an immersible experience of what it’s like to live in the house. These videos can be added to the listing to allow potential buyers to virtually wander around the home.
- Radio advertising: this is a great way to reach local buyers, while also advertising any upcoming open homes and private inspection opportunities
- Electronic direct marketing to your agent’s database of previous buyers, tenants and investors, advertising the property and its features
- Print advertising (depending on the market): many buyers still sit down with the local real estate lift-out on a Saturday morning and browse the listings. While it’s not as popular as it once was, print advertising (depending on the area) still has its place.
- Regular open homes and private inspections to allow buyers ample time to view the home.
If you’re looking for a highly skilled agent to sell your Mudgee property, get in touch with Edwina Smith at Signature Properties Mudgee on 0429 328 086 today.
